Silly season is over for the global transfer market, but it’s just getting started in the National Women’s Soccer League.
It’s true of the standings, which feature an NWSL Shield race too close to call between a handful of teams — only for the standings to not really matter come playoff time.
NWSL awards season is also upon us, a time of year filled with debate and, at times, disbelief. So infamous is the NWSL’s history with awards that in 2019, players widely denounced the final selections voted on by various stakeholders (which, it should be noted, featured a 50% weighted vote for players). Becky Sauerbrunn was named defender of the year despite missing almost half the season due to U.S. national team duties in a World Cup year. She proceeded to respectfully state that she had no business winning the award.
In 2016, the NWSL First XI featured four forwards, because why not have a hypothetical team play a 4-2-4?
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Anything could happen with these awards — especially this year. From a thrilling Golden Boot race to an unprecedented rookie class setting records and driving their teams to the playoffs, this NWSL awards season is like a multiple-choice test in which each category could feature an “all of the above” answer.
That is no fun, so we’re here to make the hard choices for you to kick off all the heated debate and allow you to yell at us first. The caveat, of course, is that there is a month left in the regular season, and things could change. As it stands, this is what the race looks like for NWSL awards, both the real ones and the ones we wish they handed out.
Jump to: MVP | Most Improved | Best coach | Best interim coach | Best goal | Rookie of the Year | Best game | Best defender | Best goalie | Best save | Most GIF-worthy moment
Most Valuable Player: Alex Morgan, FW, San Diego Wave FC
Eleven years ago, when Alex Morgan first stepped on a field as a professional, it was clear that she was destined for a special career. Since then, she has played in three World Cup finals, winning two of them, won an Olympic gold medal and made her case among the best in a historic program.
At the club level? She’s never won an individual award. Even that rookie season in the now defunct WPS, when she helped the Western New York Flash win a title, Morgan lost out on Rookie of the Year to Christen Press. Morgan is yet to even be named to a First XI team in the NWSL. That changes this year.
At 33, Morgan is in the best form of her life and carrying San Diego through the best expansion season the NWSL has ever witnessed. Over half the Wave’s goals — 15 of 29 — have been scored by Morgan. While five of them have been from the penalty spot, that takes nothing away from both her importance to her team’s success and the great form she is in — consistently, it should be noted, which has always been the knock on her club performances.
There is a tired argument that Morgan is an old-school, one-dimensional player who only works well in direct systems of play. That is the opinion of someone who has not watched her play in the last half-decade as she developed into a back-to-goal, link-up player who can draw out defenses. No doubt, San Diego’s style suits her well.
Morgan has three games remaining to chase down Sam Kerr‘s NWSL regular-season record 18 goals in a season, and Kerr did that in a 24-game season (vs. 22 this season). Morgan’s 1.00 goals per 90 minutes is better than Kerr’s 0.87 from that historic 2019 campaign (none of Kerr’s were from the penalty spot), per FBRef. Kerr was the indisputable MVP that year. Morgan has stiff competition for the award this year, but her consistent dominance, combined with her importance to her team, tips the award in her favor.
Defender of the Year: Sofia Huerta, OL Reign
I am always reluctant to award the top defender award to a player in large part because of their offensive production, but it is difficult to ignore Sofia Huerta’s season for OL Reign (and how it carries over to her U.S. national team prospects).
Huerta, as a right-back, leads the entire NWSL in big chances created, per TruMedia and Stats Perform, and she is arguably the best crosser of the ball from wide areas. Her four assists are one off the league lead and have come at crucial moments for the Reign and, in general, her unique abilities as a full-back allow the team to play the way they do. Huerta has also improved on the defensive side of the ball and is a consistent starter on a Reign team that has conceded the fewest number of goals of all teams this season. As defenders go, she is as influential as it gets, even if largely on the offensive side of the ball.
Also in the running: Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave FC; Tatumn Milazzo, Chicago Red Stars; Elizabeth Ball, Kansas City Current; Hailie Mace, Kansas City Current; Alana Cook, OL Reign
Girma has a fair shout as the league’s best defender, which is why she takes the rookie award for me. Tatumn Milazzo is also among the most improved players in the league, especially in 1-v-1 scenarios, and impressed as one of Chicago’s backs in a 3-5-2 system that put plenty of pressure on her.
Huerta’s teammate, Alana Cook, is a big piece of the Reign’s defensive strength, too, and the Kansas City duo of Elizabeth Ball and Hailie Mace deserves mention as center-back and wing-back, respectively.
Goalkeeper of the Year: Phallon Tullis-Joyce, OL Reign
Goalkeeping is a perennial strength in the NWSL and in the U.S. national team depth chart, and this season there is a new entry among the most impressive in club play.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce, in her first season as the starter, leads the NWSL in save percentage, per FBRef, and ranks sixth in saves. She has consistently made spectacular saves in the Challenge Cup and regular season alike to keep OL Reign in games and change results, and her potential ceiling is incredibly high.
Her love for learning about marine and aquatic life, combined with her great shot-stopping ability, led fans to liken her to an octopus, a suggestion that she has more than two arms to stop shots.
Also in the running: Kailen Sheridan, San Diego Wave FC; Bella Bixby, Portland Thorns FC; DiDi Haracic, Angel City FC
Kailen Sheridan and Bella Bixby are currently tied with Tullis-Joyce for the league lead in goals-against average at 1.00. Sheridan is the best penalty-stopper of the bunch and least likely to make an out-of-character mistake. She could well add to San Diego’s team haul in the official vote. DiDi Haracic turned around from a rough start to the season to help keep Angel City FC in games, with just 19 goals conceded in 17 games. She’s a big reason why the expansion team has managed a +1 goal difference and stayed in the playoff race.
Best Save: Jane Campbell, Houston Dash vs. Angel City FC, June 7
Technically, this is best saves (plural) and it wins both for the denial and the reaction to get back up and squash the rebound. Campbell was incredible in this moment, and these saves preserved a crucial point in a scoreless draw in Los Angeles.
Most GIFable moment: Emily Sonnett, Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns, May 18
Emily Sonnett is a repeat winner in this category after her role in a 2019 incident with Amy Rodriguez. This year, in one of the most entertaining games of the season, Sonnett thought she scored a late winner, only to realize the goal had been called back, then snapped to the realization that the Thorns had already put the ball back in play and were going the other way.
It was also a heads-up play from the Spirit to not get countered, and Sonnett was brilliant on the night in a series of 1-v-1 battles with Sophia Smith (with plenty of smack-talking in between.
Appreciate Sanchez and Rodman turning into center backs here.#hustle #NWSL pic.twitter.com/0JEGqGiOKt
— Our Game Magazine (@OurGameMagazine) May 19, 2022
